The prior art discloses so-called clamping systems or 3D clamping systems for the construction of fixtures. Such clamping systems are based on an assembly table or welding bench, which are also referred to as a dressing table or 3D work table, which has cylindrical through holes that are arranged in the table top and along the edges of the table, serve directly for receiving clamping elements and are uniformly distributed over the surface at predetermined distances. Such a table is known from EP-A 05 41 904 B1, for example. One or more assembly tables having such a hole grid system or grid holes form in conjunction with the most different stop, clamping and positioning elements a 3D clamping system by means of which very complex and modular devices can be arranged on the table in a minimum of time. 3D clamping systems are used e.g. in steel construction, the shaping of sheet, the robotic technology and also in laser welding, laser cutting and the prototype or car body manufacture.
The arrangement or machining of a device often requires the adaptation of the available work area. For example, it may be necessary to further machine the device fixed on the assembly table at another work place, as a result of which the device plus the assembly table have to be moved. In other cases, the assembly table per se must be moved relative to the workpiece to support or fix another location, or the available support or assembly area shall be increased or reduced in the course of the machining steps.
The prior art discloses to provide for this purpose the bottom area with attachment rails where the assembly table can be attached to various, predetermined locations, e.g. characterized by grid holes, which make an accurate re-measurement or readjustment of the new table position superfluous.
However, in order to be able to attach the assembly tables to a new location of the attachment rail, the heavy assembly tables were formerly lifted by a crane or lifting carriage and relocated to the new location.
However, these approaches known from the prior art require heavy equipment (crane or lifting carriage) and an accurate positioning when the assembly table is lowered onto the assembly rail. A further drawback is that the use of such movement systems is time-consuming and cannot always be carried out for reasons of space.